Counting-machine



H. P. C. BROWNE.

COUNTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 1a. 1915.

1,333,061 Patented Mar. 9, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

,f ll l :g

f//Z/f i V H. P. C. BROWNE.

COUNTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEc. I8. 1,915.

Patented Mar. 9, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'IIrIiI'III 9 k FIL- IHIIL "LIL .INVENTOH W/TNESSES:

H. P. C. BRowNli.`

COUNTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLED DEC. 18, 1915.

1,333,061 Y Patented Mar. 9, 1920.

3 SHEETS*SHEET 3.

v W/TNESSES.' VEA/TOI? m niranfr ortica.

HARRY P. C. BROWNE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

scontrino-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters latent. i

Patented Mar. 9, 192i?.

Application filed December 18, ll. Serial No. 67,588.

To all fio/tom, it may concer/L Be it known that I, HARRY l. C.'Bnowivr., a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in thecounty and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements in Counting-Machines; and l do hereby declare the followingto be :i full, clear, and eXactdescription of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to nia-keand use the saine.

My present invention relates to improve nieiits in counting machinesr ofthe type in which two or inore wheels, displaying numerals l, 2, etcetera to 9 and O on the periphery, are mounted side by side on acoininon central shaft. Y

More particular the objects oi my invention are: to provide a devicevor'the charac-` ter named which will furnish a continuons register of acycle olf movement, such as iw-ivolutions, oit inechanisin'to whichv itina-y be coupled, whether the said cyclebe reversed in direction or not;in which the setting of the counting wheels in their several positionsaround the central shaft is performed by means which are independent andcorrective of the train actuating the wheels; in which the wheels may bereadily reset to any desired reading; and 'of such design that acomplete instrument oi' small size may be constructed thi"oughoutl ofineX- pensive, dependable parts.

To the accomplishment of these objects and such others as mayappear'hereinaiter,

my invention comprises the novel construction and combination oi' partshereinafter described and pointed out in the appended claims, referencebeing had to the accom,- panying drawings.

ln the drawings in which the same reference characters' designate likeparts throughout the several views. Figure l is an end view in elevationof the device, a guard (if with opening 29, used to cover all thenumerals except those appearing in the central line, is shown in Fig. l,but the construction and purpose of such lguard being; commonlyAunderstood, the guard is elsewhere omitted. Fig. 4 is a front view inelevation of Fig. l. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on theline e-c of Fig. lseen in the direction of the arrow, comprising-'only parts which are notsuiliciently disclosed by Fig. l.V Fig. 3 is an isometric view of one ofthe counting wheels complete with ratchet and cam. Fig. 5 1s anisometric view oit' one of the pawls used for actuating the countingwheels. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing the action between the partsdisplayed in Fig. 2. Fig. 10 is an isoinetric view ot the central shafton which the counting; wheelsare supported. Figs. 7 and 8 arerespectively end and front assembly vieWs of llig. l0 and the bracketmember .in which it is supported. Fig. 9' is an isometric view of theshaft which drives the mechanism with circular ca-ins in their p0-sition thereon. y y

Referring to the drawings; in Figs. 10, 'l' and 8, A Vrepresents acylindrical shaft ot relatively large diameter, a and a are cylindricalbosses centrally disposed on the ends of A, and by means ot which A issupported in the bracket il. rlhe bracket H comprises the `two planeparallel wings i and 7L', of like shape and connected at the rear by thecross piece lt; the upper right hand `corner of 7i, Fig. 7, being brokenaway to display notch j in wing 71,. Holes f and f', lin and itrespectively, receive bosses c and c respectively, when the wings of thebracket, which is preferably made oit' ,a resilient material as steel,are slightly spread apart. Holes ,Q/ and fa/ form bearings for a shaftY, Figs; l and el. Returning to Fig.l l0, l, 2, 3, el. and 5 are socketsof cylindrical bore, uniform size and depth,and having their axes in thesame plane and `parallel to each other; the plane containingy the axesot the sockets, passes above the alisoi:l shaft A for reasons which willvbe explained under Fig. 6. A hole ,c/passing trom end to end of-shaii't A and paralleling' the axis thereof. forms a. bearing for thedriving shaft B, Fig. 9. Fig. 3 represents a coinplete counting wheel,of which wheels five are used in thepresent machine: on the peripherjgfof the wheel appears the usual series of numerals or digits, viz; 0, 1et cetera to 9 in order in the counter-clockwise Vdirection and atintervals of 36 degrees. The digits i'nay be printed for sight readilyonly or they may beV raised types for printing.V

Concentric with the periphery of the wheel is an opening O, originally acircle in contour. but of which circle only the relatively small arcsrasindicated by 0 are leitt after the. formation ott-lie series of tennotches 6, 7, 8 et cetera aronndthe rim of VO, at intervals of 36degrees The arcs 0 are parts however of a true circle and form a bearingsurface by which the counting wheels ride Cil ` alici Cl.

aef tolateral movement. the

VStrung Vpawls 1PM P5, l?.r and P5.

yslfrovygr, the perspectiiie ot the p;

'ro form, which, areV A With any desired lit. The

upon-the shaft et cetera are ot circular arc notches 6, 7, 8

contour, adapted to seat a. hall Y, Fig. 2, one oi which balls underoutward tooth. At, the left et the Wheel, lv the ircula-r concentric camcm the tliaiiieter ot which is slightly greater than the rr. el etfliameterfacross tie Vliatt cil tips. A, sinA ,Q'le notch 5l,correspo'och the. tooth notch of the ratchet. and substantially oppositeto one of said ratchet teeth.l is formeel. in the cam .vllich.otheiwvisc, il" a plain flat dish. 'E ie Wheel. cai; and ratchet are kypreference ioimetl integral With each other byk some process such as diecasting. but may be made separately aadV aesombled in ahy desired if'ay.lie-terrine' tf; llel, it will be iioteclthatthe :notch tl is loca-fnthe Vcare in such relation tothe lumiere. 9

than when the bail X is retracted toY the ei;-

nienicaited by w, the -oaWl treme lett p 110W iiioperativeljf i gtlierim of the cam. will be ioemittetl by sie notch. to 'Fall intoe'e'ae'eibeat with a ratchet 'tc-oth; lmly hoi?- eyer when the ole'lt 9hotte in the line oi central registration ell-el eY 4.

Referring; to Fig. l.. l-

, ing Wings Variel zo". alike auf each other and connected by oted onthe holee y/ and jz/ et' h means oi the sha-tt Y. The

allele the axis et shaft fi in 4 .flevce,`aii l is secured tothe l cexpansion of ite' ends into ces n at' the lojtoio et a' and fa. sichheilig taci itagefl by the pro lo the W' af identical slots i8 'analle.. ll" which incloseV-the eccentric cai Y ify'iclt 1 slote heiligsubstantially equal to th i 'r.irieteigl the length' el? th 'slots isallah in egicesscoftwice thedreate ffentri i the-carie@47 but may loeioacle still more th slot? @lo hot necessarily ioclose thc= Verticemoveieeht oi the car Attheiioger wel o theLhe-il isiXecl, in, a positionoi parallf; ffith shaft A, the l t' f3, upon which are l and 4.Reierrihgynow to F130". Qwhich are parallel ears., approximating romeo.clicks ined atthe bottom to.'

i Vbear upon t o in coo tour tov ears m and m. and

a id i L nicos cause the pawls to he rims oi' the caros c1, c2 et cet--rz l l ose Washer 17 locates the pzuwf'ls midway over the ratchet andcam oi aal- '1g cormtingivheel...

Referring to Fig. 9, B is e shaft towhich are almxerl. by pine 23 andthe eccentri; lar c: me 2l. and which are alike? as mounted on theshaft. opposite to other and normal to the shaft. Sha :tt E journals inthe hole g, Fig, l0, the space between the cams being substantiallyequal to the overal length et' .Shat't A including the boe-ses c" attia.

.ln Fig. the arrow shows the direction of the Working movement oi' thecounting` Wheel; it is eif'itleiit that this movement Will cease thecorner o of the notch seatingthe ball lf. to press upon game, also thatthe reverse movement will cause the cornerm Y New reterr to pwss ipoithe ball. to Q a circle correspon 1i lch l l i i It shaft A. i7 a circleto ie ci correspo guiar space Y. il joining' the point of ot the circleif. l

exert itself 'on a Contact with the colite" t' the point oi Contact fie12",* the .torce will take the dlrectior p an ati-gie of approximate] ycegr o tte @idee of the recthe sides el:

Ward direcLion; in the Second instance the component actiec' on if willbe negligible m amount and oi proportions ot am igures are those Shownin the usefl in filra"wings,v so cf it is eE/iclelt he moved M tion, ttlm teiagrcfl the y o; thenotch and. a

'with og' Wheel eti 5w' or clockwise clirecl Y, movement be at remain',Frmlj-J in t preventing any .notion oil the ball.,

ilorthe countviz; that ci octane* as ai detect ing rwheels Aaca it whichtofil m a comt needed as z "icult to. appl machine of smallsize.

-halls V, is such that in 21S "Il 'rises higher, until itltakes commaiuland throws the hall into'the approaching notch ahead ofv the action ofthe prime actuati means. By this action of the hall, the se.- ting ofthe counting wheels in their sei-'eral vangular positions, is made,independent and corrective of any variations in the length of stroke ofthe pawls.

ln Fig. 1, the. hraclrc ll'is attached to a plate hy rivets 18, tit theholes Q8, l? ig. 8; the plate and the spindle '19, are similar inappearance and function to the plate Q and the spindle Q shown. in thedrawings of my Patent lo. 942,883 granted December 14th, 1909 audentitled Huh odometers, to which art, among others, my present inventionis adapted.

The operation of the counter is' as follows z-The revolution of theshaft B, with its cams 21 and engaging the slots 13 and 1e, causes thehail X to describe an angular movement about the anis of shaft Y. .frline .e-e, joining the center of the shaft Y with the center of the paulshaft passe-1f;

through 'lo of thearc 'ar-ir when 'the hail attains the left hand limit,F l.` of this angular movement; and through te when at the right handlimit. vTheposition of rest of the counting wheels, determined by theposition the pawls are retracted far enough to allow them to fall intothe ratchet tooth notches; and the movement of the hail from position wto fw', provides traverse of the pawls needed to rotate the wheelsthroughV the angle of one tooth or digit interval. The .notch j in it',allows the pawl P5 to follow ratchet fr, to the end of the stroke. Theprovision of duplicate eccentric cams, engaging duplicate slots in thehail, propels the hail at each end thereof, which results in smootherand more uniform motion of the pawls than would he obtained with hutonel cam. Y

The action of toe counting mechanism proper as follows :-Pawl P5 remainsin continuous engagement with the ratchet 715 of the units countingwheel, so that for each complete stro-lie of the hail, the unit countingwheel registers the net succeeding digit. Pawl P, however rides on thecam 0 carried bythe units wheel and therefore re# mains inoperativeuntil the notch in c, 0ccurs in the position shown in Fig. 1, in otherwords, remains inoperative Vuntil the digit nine of the units wheel hasassumed its place in the register sight, line ilO--ifl Fig. 4l. `When P,is allowed to drop, it engages the ratchet ff', attached to the tenswheel, and will traverse the latter through one tooth or digit intervalupon the next forward bail stroke to fw', the units wheel meanwhilepassing to digit 0. Thus the register will pass from 9 to 10, from 19toV Q0, et cetera up to 89 when the next succeeding w position willregister 90. This position of the tens wheel, presents the notch of canic, to pawl P3, hut if E, were allowed to drop at this point intoAigagement with ratchet r3, attached to the hundreds wheel, the registerwould move to 191 with the next to posi tion of the bail. The lip 16 ofP3, however, prevents the action alluded to in the following way. Atregistration 90, l?, cannot drop, the notch in 0 having been carriedforward with the digit nine of the units wheel, hut remains in theinoperative or elevated position, and while it so remains sustains P3also in the 'inoperative position through the lip 16, which overlies 13as shown in Fig. 4f. lhen the units wheel again registers nine, willdrop and engage r4, at the same time allowing P1, to drop and engage r.,ratchet of the hundreds wheel. The lips 16 of the pawls to the left, Y

overlie the pawls to the right, hence the pawls to the left aresupported by those to the right, so that?, engaging the thousands wheel,ratchet r2, must remain inoperative until the units, tens andl hundredswheels Iall have assumed the position which presents their respectivedigits 9, in the line iO-i1; Likewise P1 engaging fthe ten thousandswheel ratchet c, must remain inoperative until the registration 9999 hasappeared.

Thus a. vcontinuous registration progressing hy units is secured up to99999, after which the register returns to 00000, and begins again toregister upward.

Referring again to Fig. 6, it is to he noted that the degree ofObliquity of space 3 to circle Q. determines the direction and amount ofthe motive eEect of the forces Q/ fr and o o exertedhy the points o andv.respectively, upon circle V. Thus, if space 3 he made normal withrespect to (al, the angles made hy ,r-fz/ v and o-Jv with the sides of3, will he equal; and in consequence, forces exerted by points o and fvalike in etect upon circle V. Also,`as 3 recedes from the normal, theforces become unlike; that which is approached having less and lesseffect upon circle V, and greater and greater effect in resisting rotartion between the counting wheel and shaft A... In an arrangement of 3normal to Q, the counter wheels and shaft A. would loe rotatable withrespect to one another with equal facility in either direction; in thearrangement shown. in the drawing the wheels andsha-ft have hut a singledirection each, of rotation with respect to one an other. Between theseextreme positions, however, the action ofthe balls to position Athewheels undergoes no change. In the lio the sides of 3, is used primarilyto make room for the operating; shaft B, but other relationship between3 and Q might be advantageously used in several variations'o the presentmechanism. Stiii other modificationsmight be made in the hereindescribed. apparatus Which could be used ffithout departing 'trom thespirit of /iy invention.

Having thus described my invention, what claim and desire to secure by.Letters PatH nt of the United States, is:

l. In a coimting` machine, the combination ot a cylindrical sui.i ,tingmember, oi? a countine' Wheel han/ing;` a central bearing and rotataoiymounted on said member, the inner wail of the bearing of said Wheelbeing1 provided with arcuate notches spaced a uniform distance apart,therearound, mechanism operatively connected with said Wheel, andimparting successive partiairotations thereto, and in ans containedWithin said member, and intei posing a yielding resistance to therotation of said Wheef upon said member in onedire tion, when actuatedjy' said-mechanism, said means seating in said notches successiyeij,Tand ioeking said Wheei against rotation relative to said meinber in theopposite direction.

2. In a Counting` machine, the combination oit a supporting member, anindicating Wheel, having a bearing and rotatable upon said member, thebee-ringwail ofsaid Wheei being` provided with a plurality otnotches,spaced a uniform distance apart around the Wheel and forming;projections between said notches havingsloping sides, a mechanism forrotating the Wneei in one direction, a yieldably mounted means containedWithin said member, and seating in said notches Vsuccessiveiy as thewheel is rotated, said means locking the Wheel against rotation relative'to said member in the opposite direction, said means operating againstthe rear side of each projection after it has passed the iine otmovement of said means, to accelerate the Wheel movement independent ofsaid mechanism.. v

3. in a counting machine, the combination a supporting member, having aninfiai socket, an indicating WheeiL having a searing, and rotatable uponsaid member, the bearing Wall of said Wheel being provided with aplurality o1u notches spaced a nnitorin distance apartA around the Wheeland forming projections between said notches, a yieldabie n'iendoerWithin said socket, a. bali mounted on said member and norma-Hy seatedin one of said notches, said hall being' disposed to permit the rotationoi said indicating 'Wheel in one direction and to lock it againstrotation in the opposite direction.

n'testimony whereof l' aniX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

Y HARRY C. BROVNE;

`Witnesses v M. DAVIS, J. E. BROWNE.

